Room 613 Student Blogs - 2005/2006

Everyone has their favorite car manufacturers but my favorites are BMW and Mercedes-Benz. I have always hade a thing for luxury cars and speed. These two cars give it both. My alltime favorite cars from both Mercedes and BMW are the two flagship (if the company had a flag that car would go on it) cars. The flagship car for Mercedes is the S-600. The flagship car for BMW is the 760Li. Both of these cars are fast and offer luxury. The Mercedes “STAR” stand for “land, air, and sea” because those are the engines they make. BMW stands For “Bavarian Motor Works”

Specifications

Price- $140,675

Engine- 5.5L 36-valve Biturbo V-12 engine

Net Power- 510 hp @ 5,000 rpm

Net Torque- 612 lb-ft @ 1,800- 3,500 rpm

Specifications

Price- $118,400

Engine- 6.0 L V12

Net Power- 438 hp @ 6,000 rpm

Net Torque- 444 lb-ft @ 3,950 rpm

You look down and see an animal that is mostly clear. A small tail tucks in as the little creature squiggles around a bit. After minute’s of staring you finally recognize it as a shrimp. A ghost shrimp to be exact.

Ghost shrimps are peaceful creatures that are a good choice for aquariums. Although ghost shrimp are small so putting them in an aquarium with fish mean’s you’re taking a risky chance. You better put many hiding spots if you’re putting them with fish!

Ghost shrimps are clear making part’s in there body visible. If you look closely you might see the food they ate {Sorry for the grossness}. These shrimp also have ten pair’s of legs. The first four include tiny claws on the ends.

Ghost shrimp’s are amazing animal’s in many ways. You should go get one and observe it’s fine details. Good luck!

Animations from:

http://www.arl.psu.edu/images/jwl190.gif

http://www.arl.psu.edu/images/maneuver.gif

http://snap.lbl.gov/Flyby2Bb.gif

http://images.animationfactory.com/imagedir/animations/machines/communications/satellite_in_space/satellite_in_space_lg_nwm.gif

These are the phases of the moon!

(pretty cool, huh?)

Dogs are not allowed in Antarctica!

South Africas Giant Bullfrog sometimes attacks lions!

The Earth’s temperature rises during full moons!

Winter lasts for 21 years on Uranus!

You lose about 9 pounds of skinncells each year!

Popsicles were invented by an 11 year old!

Most squids have three hearts!

Astronauts grow up to 3 inches in outer space!

The Alaskan flag was created by a 12 year old in a drawing competition!

The poison dart frog is a tiny little frog that lives in the rainforests of South America and in warm humid climates. These little guys can grow to be 1/2 inch to 2 inches big! Despite their small size these frogs can produce ALOT of poison that can kill humans if gets into a cut or your mouth! The most deadliest poison dart frog is the Golden poison dart frog that can produce enough poison to kill 10 humans! Indians gatherd a buch of these frogs put them near a fire and waited until a slime came up from their bodies, after the slime came up indians collected it and put it on their arrow heads or darts to kill predetors faster and from a distance. That is all I have to tell you about the poison dart frog.

gold poison dart frog >

Could you believe that this… ugly thing resembles a lobster?

Well, it does and it was found near Paris, France by some American-led divers in the south pacific. Scientists named the animal the Kiwa Hirsuta. The animal is also said to be so distinct from many other species, that they made a new family and genus for it. The Kiwa Hirsuta was found in waters 2,300 meters - or 7,540 feet - deep at a location 1,500 kilometers - or 900 miles - south of easter island last year. This crustacean is 15 centimeters long and is white. CNN reports that it is about the size of a “salad plate”. One suprising characteristic is that it has “sinuous hair-like strands on its pinchers. The Kiwa Hirsuta is also blind and its family is named Kiwaida. Thats all the info I could get, but I’ll let you know if there is anymore on the Kiwa Hirsuta.

In Washington, studies in science labs have come up that sun-spawned cosmic storms that have caused havoc with orbiting satellites and power grids have been thought to be 50% stronger in the next 11-year solar cycle than the last one!  Astronomers have volunteered to do a long-ranged forecast to find any solar activity that might start now in 2006 or later in 2008, but they didn’t give any predictions on any of the solar storms.  The astronomers still hoped to create early warnings to power companies, satellite operators, and other power and satellite companies around the world to prepare for these storms. These solar storms can be more than a happening, they can cause satellite failures, disruptions in electrical grids and blackouts, and can be a living nightmare for astronauts in outer space [where they] can be severely violent.  To all astronauts, be very careful and stay on Earth, who knows what might happen up there.  This is a newscast from yours truly, John.

Every 11 years the sun will reverse its magnetic field causing a cycle of solar flares, sunspots, and magnetic storms having effects on earth. Scientist[s] think that the next solar cycle will be in the late 2007 or early 2008. The storm will be 30 to 50 percent stronger then the last. These storms can effect satillite orbit, disupt telecommunication, and can take down electric power grids. The scientist[s] predicted this by using a new computer made by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Using this computer Scientist[s] said that “For the first time, we can predict the strenght of the 11-year solar cycle.” The other time we had a solar cycle peak was in 2001. This new model can predict when the next solar cycle will come.

I found my information from this website.

This is a fun educational game that we played last year in science to learn about aircraft and how they work! In this game you can design and test your own aircarft then you can deliver it to the manager and see if she approves of it. If she doesn’t then go back to the drawing board and fix the problems. If she says yes then…. congrats! Your plane has past the test to play this really fun game go to this website… www.planemath.com

Remeber all the stuff about planes you learned last year and you will be able to build the private plane of your dreams!

Also make sure you have the most recent version of Shockwave or else you can’t play!

HAVE FUN!

Here’s a few outrageous facts!

A Rubiks cube has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 combinations!

Bees have 5 eyes!

Sperm whales have the heaviest brains on earth!

An eagles nest can weigh more then a refrigerator!

Traffic lights were invented before cars!

Mountain lions can whistle!

Amazing facts came from the kids National Geographic magazine

These are just other Optical Illusions.

Stare at the lowest of the four dots in the middle for about 30 seconds then look at a white or light coloured wall. What do you see?

1) How many black dots can you see?

Creat to http://www.saintderanged.co.uk/?page=http://www.saintderanged.co.uk/OpticalIllusions.html

This is just another image from the website that Mr. H found the “rotating snakes”. I just thought you would be interested.

“Warning: This post contains some works of “anomalous motion illusion”, which might make sensitive observers dizzy or sick. Should you feel dizzy, you should leave this post immediately.”

Ryan J (Science Project for Mr. Larwence))

The Black spotted Lemur was just recently found in the Tiberian Jungle in Tuswania. The lemur has many behaviors that affect its living in the jungle. Here are some of its instincts and behaviors. The lemur will hunt and put its prey (usually a rat or other small animal) up in its tree. This lemur is very territorial and will kill any animal if it comes into its territory. This lemur can run at speeds up to 65 mph! WOW huh? This lemur will usually learn to swim at an early age too. The lemur will usually sleep about 14 hours of the day and will only come out during the late part of the day. The Lemur also, as an instinct, will run from any known predator. Also if it hears a loud sound or something that may cause it harm then it will STOP, LOOK, LISTEN, and if the coast is clear then it keeps doing its business. The lemur will carry its baby lemur on its back to keep its gentle skin from touching the ground; the skin will get tougher as it gets older. The baby lemur will start with what looks like a Ring Tailed Lemur’s tail but once again as it gets older it will get its leopard tail. This animal will grow short but very sharp claws which will allow it to climb trees better.

Court Ship Maneuvers

While Ryan J was strolling through the Tiberian Jungle looking for the recently discovered Black Spotted Lemur he saw two of them looking as if they were doing some sort of Courtship maneuvers. So he decided to watch the two Lemurs and see if they were mating. Sure enough they were. He had discovered the courtship maneuvers of the Black Spotted Lemur. He was kind enough to tell us the maneuvers and here they are……..1. The Male will rub against the Female. 2. Then he will push her head down while the female is resisting with all her strength to see if the sperm will be strong enough. 3. Then they will mate (And live happily ever after ha just kidding!) 4. The job of the male is now done. The female will now raise the offspring and teach it everything it knows.

The Black Spotted Lemur may not be the only new species. There could be many many more as we are coming into this new era. Stay tuned to the World Report News Paper as we look for “Unknown Species”

In London, England, the threat of climate change might be a lot worse than everyone first thought. Scientists have recently reported changes in global warming, and it is advancing to melt ice caps.

The UK government- commission report found evidence that says scientists now have “greater clarity and reduced uncertainty” about the problematic impacts of a change in climate. This evidence was presented at a Meteorological Office conference on climate change last year. Tony Blair, in the meeting, stated that it was clear that “risks of climate change may be greater than we thought”. He went on to write: “It is now plain that the emission of greenhouse gases, associated with industrialization and economic growth from a world population that has increased six-fold in 200 years, is causing global warming at a rate that is unsustainable”.

“Temperatures rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) during the 20th century. Computer modeling predicts increases of between 2.5 degrees and 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.4 degrees and 5.8 degrees Celsius) by the year 2100, depending on how much is done to limit greenhouse gas emissions” the U.N. backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change claimed. These scientists expected that global warming will intensify storms, raise ocean levels, shift climate zones, and spread disease. Scientists are also concerned about the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets melting and the Gulf Stream shutting down. These are known to the scientists as climatic “tipping points”.

Other problems have also occurred, one British report warned that the huge west Antarctic ice sheet may be starting to disintegrate, an event that could raise sea levels by 16 feet! Clearly, there is a real concern amongst a growing number of scientists worldwide!

For more World News go to cnn.com. Just Click here.

The illusion above is called “Rotating Snakes.” Can you see them moving? The apparent motion of the illustration is due to a visual illusion known as peripheral drift. The motion appears in your peripheral (to the side) vison when black and dark grey lines or white and light gray lines are drawn side by side. If you like this type of illusion, there are many more for you to view at Akiyoshi’s illusion pages.

Warning: This post contains some works of “anomalous motion illusion”, which might make sensitive observers dizzy or sick. Should you feel dizzy, you should leave this post immediately.